Fixed Epithet

The fixed (permanent) epithet is a traditional descriptor, established in folk creativity, that invariably accompanies a certain word regardless of context: 'the blue sea,' 'the boisterous wind,' 'the open field,' 'brown eyes,' 'the red kalyna,' 'fine tears.' The fixed epithet is a characteristic feature of folklore style, an element of folk-poetic formulaicity that facilitates oral composition and memorization. Unlike an individual authorial epithet, which each time discloses a new quality of an object, the fixed epithet consolidates an established, idealized notion of it. The nature of the folk-poetic epithet was thoroughly studied by Alexander Veselovsky in his work 'From the History of the Epithet.' The fixed epithet was actively adopted by Romantic and neo-Romantic literature: it echoes in Taras Shevchenko's 'Kobzar' and in Lesia Ukrainka's poetry, lending them a folk-song resonance.